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Quote by Philip Larkin

Work

The Whitsun Weddings

The Whitsun Weddings is a novel that delves into the lives of a group of people living in a small English village during the 1930s. The story follows various characters as they navigate love, loss, and the complexities of social class. The setting is vividly portrayed, offering a glimpse into the era's rural landscape and the lives of those who inhabit it. more

Author

Philip Larkin
Philip Larkin

Philip Larkin (August 9, 1922 – December 2, 1985) was a renowned English poet, novelist, and librarian. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest poets of post-war Britain, known for his concise, bleak, and ironic style. Born in Coventry, Larkin studied at St John's College, Oxford. His major works include the poetry collections 'The Whitsun Weddings' and 'High Windows', and the novel 'Jill'. He spent most of his career as librarian at the University of Hull. Larkin's poetry often explores themes of death, loneliness, love, and the absurdity of everyday life. He rejected modernism in favor of traditional forms, and his precise, musical language earned him the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. His work continues to influence poets and readers worldwide. more

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“2. If these figures express units of string lengths, then Anu is, with 60 units, the longest string, the bass note. Sin is one octave below Ištar and one above Anu. The ratios of string lengths are thus in reciprocal relation to the ratios of frequencies. It seems appropriate at this point to introduce the musical cent or centième since it is the most tangible unit of tonometry. The conversion of ratios into musical cents consists in multiplying the log to base 10 of the quotient of the division between the denominator and numerator of the ratio by the constant 3986.314. This method produces a scale composed of 1200 units in which equal semitones measure 100 cents. Thus, 1/1 = 0 cents; 2/1= 1200 cents, the octave; 9/8 = 204 cents, the Pythagorean tone; 3/4 = 498, the just fourth; 2/3 = 702, the just fifth, etc. From this we see that the gods’ respective numbers are contained in the span of the top octave. Anu, Enlil, Ea and Sin provide with the tonal infrastructure for the Babylonian scale as shown below: SIN EA ENLIL ANU 0 498 884 1200 Fundamental Fourth Sixth Octave Anu/Enlil 60/50 = 6/5 = 316 = just minor third Enlil/Ea 50/40 = 5/4 = 386 = just major third Ea/Sin 40/30 = 4/3 = 498 = just fourth Sin/Šamaš 30/20 = 3/2 = 702 = just fifth Šamaš/Bel 20/10 = 2/1 = 1200 = octave.”

“There’s a quiet, painful peace in finally accepting reality. You finally stop waiting for people to understand, to apologize, or to change. At first, it hurts, letting go of what you hoped they would be. But slowly, you realize peace doesn’t come from them. It comes from accepting reality as it is.”